Although Wen Yan didn’t speak, Jiang Zhou knew that he was listening carefully.

He hugged Xiao Yi a little tighter and stared into Wen Yan’s eyes seriously: “I know you have doubts, but don’t worry, I will tell you everything slowly.”

Wen Yan felt the warmth of the milk tea in his hands, making him want to set aside everything and trust Jiang Zhou just this once. He responded, “Okay.”

As they chatted during their journey, they eventually arrived at Fengtai House. Jiang Zhou suggested, “The tea house’s owner asked me to help with some things. Do you want to go in and take a look?”

Wen Yan considered his options and realized that he had nowhere else to go. The Autumn Harvest Festival was an annual event, and there was nothing new to explore. So, he agreed, “I’ll take Xiao Yi to sit for a while. You go ahead, and don’t worry about me.”

Jiang Zhou blinked, contemplating his next move. He had learned various things from the memories of the time traveler, and he wanted to make something for Wen Yan.

However, he was concerned that this would make Wen Yan suspicious.

Observing his indecision, Wen Yan, who knew him well, understood his thoughts. He casually said, “Xiao Yi will probably stay up a bit. I’ll keep him company for a while and then join you over there.”

He pointed to a table close to the back room, emphasizing their proximity for better visibility.

Jiang Zhou’s eyes lit up, and he brought out a plate of milk cakes he had made earlier. “These are also made with milk, suitable for both adults and children. They’re also easier to store than regular milk. If Xiao Yi or you get hungry later, you can have a snack.”

After settling Wen Yan and Xiao Yi, he returned to the back room. There, some of the materials he had previously instructed Lu Dexing to procure were ready.

Jiang Zhou’s plan was to prepare snacks to accompany tea, specifically tea snacks. There was a saying when it comes to tea snacks

“Sweet goes well with green tea, salty with black tea, and melon seeds go well with oolong tea.”

To elaborate, sweet snacks complement green tea. This was because green tea, which was unfermented and processed through steps like fixation and rolling, had a light-colored infusion and a fresh taste. However, green tea can be irritating and wasn’t suitable for those with sensitive stomachs or those prone to hunger, so sweet snacks were a great addition.

In the winter, it wasn’t easy to get ingredients, he opted to make one of the simplest sweet snacks – Dan Huang Su, similar to mooncake but it was shaped round.

The Dan Huang Su consisted of two layers: the skin and the filling. The skin involved combining flour and lard, mixed it with warm water, and kneaded it into a dough.

In the winter, the air tends to be dry, so Jiang Zhou added plenty of water and oil. After kneading the dough, he covered it with a damp cloth and let it rest for a few minutes.

The filling was simpler to prepare. It comprises a mixture of flour and lard. Compared to the skin, this filling requires no water and a higher amount of lard.

Both of these doughs needed thorough kneading. As Jiang Zhou kneaded the dough, Wen Yan watched closely.

In the past, when they were together, Wen Yan usually did the cooking because Jiang Zhou’s culinary skills weren’t very refined. However, he never wanted Wen Yan to overexert himself. So, whenever there were tasks like kneading dough or lighting a fire, Jiang Zhou would rush to do them.

At first, he often found himself rushing and unsure about how much water to add, leading to either overly stiff or mushy dough. Wen Yan had corrected him numerous times, patiently teaching him the precise kneading technique.

Now, Jiang Zhou was kneading on his own. He first pulled a corner, gently pressed it down, then turned that section into the dough, repeating this process in order to knead every part of the dough thoroughly.

Wen Yan observed as Jiang Zhou expertly kneaded two pieces of dough, and then selected the salted egg yolks.

Jiang Zhou looked around the ingredients in the back room and found a small lump of red bean paste.

He wrapped the filling into the skin and added salted egg yolk in the center and rolled it to smooth it out. He repeated the process with the red bean paste. Then, he brushed it with raw egg yolk and threw it inside the oven.

It was actually a place where Lu Dexing baked his tea leaves, Jiang Zhou used it happily.

After asking around he found out that the people who visited tea house were mostly older men. Most of them liked to order the most famous tea here, the green tea, very little of them cared about the black tea. But there were still some customers for it. That was the reason, Jiang Zhou made the salted egg and red bean fillings.

They would still sell all kind of tea, Fenghai House had but Lu Dexing got his eyes on the milk tea made by Jiang Zhou. He discussed with Jiang Zhou to buy the recipe from him. They reached an agreement and added that Jiang Zhou could still make it but didn’t sell it anymore on his own.

Jiang Zhou had no intention of making money from milk tea. The cost of milk was too high for it to be a snack for his stall. But it was fine to make it for Wen Yan once in a while.

After both cakes were baked, he invited Lu Dalang and others to sit down and try, “There isn’t enough time today. So I only made two kinds, you can try it first.”

Lu Dexing was old so he liked to drink green tea. Jiang Zhou told him the sweet one was good combination with green tea, he tried it first.

Lu Dexing took a substantial bite. The bean paste within wasn’t overly sweet, so it didn’t leave him feeling overwhelmed. The dough’s texture surprised him – few people could achieve such a crisp and layered cake, with the outermost layer being the crunchiest and the inner layer remaining soft.

After indulging in two red bean cakes, he noticed that the sweetness was somewhat overpowering, so he took a generous sip of green tea. The tea’s astringency effortlessly cleared the sweet aftertaste.

Lu Dexing marveled – if someone consumed these cakes and wished to refresh their palate, wouldn’t the most effective solution to enjoy some tea? Not only would the snacks sell well, the green tea sales would go up too.

Satiated after two bites, Lu Dexing was done, he watched Wen Yan and Lu Dalang savoring the red bean cake.

Jiang Zhou had advised them that the red bean cake was hotter than the salted egg yolk cake. Trusting Jiang Zhou, Wen Yan ate it in small bites, while Lu Dalang followed suit after a brief bout of coughing from the heat.

Seeing the two of them enjoying the snacks, Lu Dexing was optimistic about the prospect. This new innovation would boost the tea house’s performance, and he was genuinely grateful to Jiang Zhou for these improvements.

Lu Dalang asked, “It seems that you’re focusing on making cakes. Do you plan to open a pastry shop in the future?”

Jiang Zhou shook his head, “These cakes are just an experiment; I have no intention of opening a pastry shop. I only make them occasionally.”

Lu Dalang sighed, “I don’t know how you come up with these ideas; your head is really good.”

Jiang Zhou glanced at Wen Yan and found that he was looking at him too. Their eyes met, and Wen Yan averted his gaze and quietly savored the red bean cake.